Shutter Click & Chat 08/31

My Favorite Shoes

So, I got this idea from good ol' Tameka. She's gonna give a topic and every Sunday, I take a picture of whatever the topic is. This week the topic was "your favorite shoes". So there they are! I wonder what this says about me. These shoes are comfy, lived-in, low profile, and pink! They also have little bits of elastic that attach the tongue to the instep so the shoes have no laces, which makes them slip-ons. I'm gonna get psychological and guess that these shoes say that I:

like to be comfortable
don't like to stand out in a crowd
express my femininity in an unorthodox way
always need to get dressed in a hurry (hence the no laces)
love these shoes to bits (hence the fraying and dirtiness)

So there ya go peeps! My favorite shoes and amateur psychology minute. I'll be posting again real soon so keep an eye out!

***Warning*** Political Talk Ahead

Let me start off by saying that this post will be politically charged and it's all bad stuff about McCain. So, I've given fair warning. Therefore, I respectfully request that if anyone voting for McCain gets mad after reading this post, don't get all up in my grill about it, because I prefaced it with a warning about the content!!


So, McCain just announced his VP pick. Sarah Palin. Can I just say one thing? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I mean, seriously!!! First, let's start by taking apart this woman's "experience". Let's see, she served 4 years on the city council!!!! Woooooo!! Oh, wait, she was also mayor of Wasilla, Alaska for a few years. And she's been governor of Alaska for less than 2 years. Which means she has how much foreign relations experience?? Say it with me now, ZERO. Damn!!! I almost forgot! She's a former beauty queen too!!! Yet, somehow, McCain manages to keep a straight face when denigrating Obama's respected service in the Senate. Also, less than a month ago, she completely dissed the office of Vice President altogether. What else? Oh, yes, there is the pesky little detail of her being currently investigated for abuse of power because she had a man fired because he reportedly wouldn't fire her sister's ex-husband. Keep in mind that the entire state of Alaska has a population half that of Memphis, TN. That should offer some perspective.

Honestly, this is such a ridiculously transparent ploy to attract disaffected Hillary supporters and I just have to hope that the American people are smarter than McCain gives them credit for. I already knew McCain was too old for the job, but wow, it looks like he's actually starting to go off the deep end. The Straight Talk Express has gone off the rails, ladies and gentlemen. I do have to say, though, that Sarah Palin has done something right. She loves Obama's Energy Plan.

Let's all be honest with ourselves, here. Even if you don't like Obama, Joe Biden is a SOLID vp pick. Now, John McCain is older than dirt. Is it really in our country's best interests to have a woman whose foreign relations experience is absolutely nil a heartbeat away from the Presidency? Especially with the unbelievable mess that our country is in right now?

I Have A Dream....

So, today is the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's momentous I Have A Dream speech. The words he spoke are as powerful today as they were in 1963. I watched his speech just now and it made me cry as if it were given yesterday. Our country has made so many changes for the better since that day 45 years ago. It's one of our nation's greatest shames that such a speech was ever necessary. It's also an American tragedy that Dr. King's life, such a beautiful and selfless life, was cut short by the hatred of the very kind of person that he was trying so hard to change. It's due to the struggle of Dr. King and hundreds of thousands of men and women like him that we are able to witness history again today. Today, Barack Obama will give his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. Regardless of your political affiliations or beliefs, I hope that we can all revel together in this most historic of occasions. For the first time in the history of our country, an African American man has been nominated to run for the highest office in the land. Now, our country has many shameful secrets in its past and even its present. However, I really feel as if our nation is going a long way towards redeeming the hope and promise that it was built on when our founding fathers committed those pivotal words to paper when creating our Constitution.....We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Happy Thursday everyone!!




If you don't have time to watch this longer video, please do yourself a favor and watch the short video below.



And no, I'm not stumping for Obama (although I do love him!). I just happen to think that we can all be proud of the fact that his candidacy is even possible in our country today.

Picture Bonanza!!

Ok, so I have lots of stuff to show all of you! There's gonna be mad pictures in this post because I finally got my camera cord in the mail (Thanks Pheebs!) and after having been on a picture hiatus since the battery died, I went a little cuckoo with the camera. First, we went to a Barack the Vote event yesterday. It was kinda boring, but we got out of the house, got to listen to some pretty decent live music, and the kids made their own entertainment, so it was cool. I took pictures while we were there and here they are.

Sebastian with an Obama sticker:



After Sebastian put it on, we noticed something kind of funny. Why yes, that is a gay pride Obama sticker. Haha! Since Justin's always talking about how Sebastian's gonna be gay when he grows up, it seems rather appropriate. And it coordinates smashingly with his rainbow light up necklace thingy.



And here's Bethany, looking as gorgeous as ever, if slightly militant with her overload of Obama goodies:



Here's Dorian, looking cute as all get out!



Bonus! Look at the funny face Sebastian is making in the background. I don't know what he was looking at. Possibly the really hairy hippy guy that was sitting in front of us. More likely, the really hairy hippy guy's buttcrack.

So, surprisingly (heh), the kids were not at all entertained by campaign news, VP announcement comments, and policy discussions. Here's how they entertained themselves.







Then there was a little of this:



He was actually yelling "LEAF ANGELS!!!!!" the whole time he did that. It was freaking funny. Luckily everyone else thought it was funny too.

If you can believe it, he actually found something else to do with the leaves. He buried himself in them. I pretended like I didn't see him there and "stepped" on him. He thought it was hilarious.





When we were leaving, I asked Justin "Do you think that when we're out in public sometimes, people wonder if we left Sebastian's helmet at home?". Hahaha! I love him more than I can tell you, but he is definitely a weirdo.

So, that's all the pictures of the kiddies! Now for pictures of stuff I've made lately and one picture of something that I'm currently working on.

Here's a hat that I made for Justin. I got Bethany to model it because Justin was still asleep and I was all kinds of impatient to take pictures. This hat was made with Dream in Color Classy and the name of the pattern is Claudia. The yarn is a superwash merino and the color is Happy Forest. It looks big on Bethany, but it fits Justin perfectly. Yay!







Here's a pair of socks that I'm working on for Justin. It's the first pair of socks I've tried and I love the pattern. I've had more than a few screw ups along the way, but nothing that I couldn't undo, so it's cool. I love the way they're turning out. The pattern is Boyfriend Socks and I'm using Crystal Palace Panda Cotton. It's a blend of bamboo, cotton, and elastic. Justin wasn't down with any kind of wool on his feet, so I found this and he liked it. The color is Lacquer Red. Heehee, it's a little flamboyant for Justin, but I have threatened him with death or mutilation if he doesn't wear these regularly upon my finishing them. I mean, seriously, look how tiny those needles are! These are definitely a labor of love.



Now, here's some stuff I made for my friend Kathy's kiddos.

First is a shirt I made for her 3 yr old son, Julian. Remember, all of the pictures can be clicked to make them full size. Anyway, that's a picture of Julian and Justin (Kathy's husband, Julian's dad). I distressed it somewhat before I heat-set the paint.



Next is a shirt for baby Charlotte. She's 10 months old. I made this shirt by appliqueing the pieces with Heat n' Bond and then I hand embroidered all of the outlines and details. I love how it turned out but I won't be doing another one anytime soon. It was a bitch to work on.







The hot pink fabric is some leftover from fabric that my mom bought while she was visiting here. After I made the headband that it was intended for, there was just enough leftover to use for this project. The taupe and white check fabric is from an old shirt of Justin's.

Alright, phew! That's all for now, I guess. Dang that was a lot of pictures! Until next time guys!

Fun Stuff

Just a thing that I saw on another blog:

Mequet's Aliases

Your movie star name: Cinnamon Toast Alfred Your fashion designer name is Beth Dublin Your socialite name is Kay Kay Roo Roo New Orleans Your fly girl / guy name is B Hri Your detective name is Elephant Prc Your barfly name is Pita And Hummus Tom Collins Your soap opera name is M Inside Road Your rock star name is Butterfinger Stealth Bomber Your Star Wars name is Betdog Hrijus Your punk rock band name is The Cheerful Magnet

The Amazing Meganame Generator

Shock and Awe

Ok, guess what, guess what, guess what!!!!!!!! I just did my bi-weekly weigh in and you won't believe how much I've lost since last weigh in!!!! 7 lbs!!! 7 lbs!!!! That makes for 11 pounds all told!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I wasn't fat, I'd sure enough run outside and bust up and start doing The Running Man or The Roger Rabbit or something. Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



It's funny that every time I hear the words 7 and 11 together, my immediate thought is of that Ice Cube song "It Was a Good Day", rather than the gas stations.





I haven't posted anything lately because my camera is dead. It's a long, not interesting story, but I should have the cord to charge the battery in the next few days. When I get it, I have a lot of finished projects to show you guys! Until then, peace!

Christian the Lion

I saw this video on another blog and I thought it was great, so I figured I'd share.



Now, usually I'm the first one to get all annoyed with people acting like wild animals are house pets, but this video is so great that I couldn't help but get all emotional over it. Plus, they did the right thing and released him to the wild when he needed to go, so obviously they were being rational. Not like that crazy Grizzly guy. Here's the wikipedia page on Christian.